Pokemon, Alola!
by SerenityFaithful
Summary: "Everything...Everything is different. I have no idea how I got here, nor where I am...All these creatures are different too. Thankfully there are some kind people helping me out, but the question remains, will I ever return home?" WARNING: CONTAINS SUN AND MOON SPOILERS.
1. Alola, Pokemon! (chapter 1)

**Alola, everyone! SerenityFaithful here with a brand new fanfic!**

 **This story is one inspired by the new pokemon games, Sun and Moon.**

 **Now, this story takes place a bit after the events of Sun/Moon, so if you haven't finished those games, there are going to be major spoilers referenced throughout the series. So if you haven't finished those games, I recommend you do so and then come back here.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except for my own oc. Everything else is owned my the Pokemon company.**

 **I also don't own the cover art. That picture was made by LazyTurtle: art/PKMN-Marowak-and-Meowth-Alola-ver-627379522  
**

 **Without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

 ** _? POV_**

 _They say dreams are only illusions caused by the brain during slumber, that there is no more connection than that. But recently I've begun to have a feeling. Recently I had a vision...Something...Something was shown to me...these dreams and reality might be more connected than I thought. This could be the breakthrough I needed...I have to test this out._

 _..._

 _...No...this isn't right..._

 _THE MACHINE'S GOING TO-_

 ** _*BOOM*_**

* * *

 **? POV**

 _Mmm...Another morning...  
_

I felt a gentle breeze blow on my skin as I started to hear sounds all around me.

My eyes opened wide to see the bright blue sky above me, with a few white clouds traveling by.

"Argh..." _Why do I feel so...so...terrible? My entire body is aching...but what happened?  
_

I felt a sudden headache as I started to get up.

"Ow...my head..." I groaned as I started to sit up, putting my hand on my head.

Looking down at myself, I seemed to not be harmed on the outside. My blue jeans weren't ripped, and my green hoodie jacket was fine too, only a little wrinkly. My hair was a little messy, but thanks to the pony tail, my red hair was just fine.

I took a look around, I appeared to be in an unfamiliar town. The buildings all had different colored roofs.

"No...nonono...this isn't my home..." I asked out loud as I began to look around.

 _I can't remember anything about this place...Okay, let's see, what can I remember? Let's see...My name is Ericka, I'm sixteen...I was at my home in Hawaii...But somehow, I end up in wherever this is. This looks nothing like Honolulu.  
_

I began to stand up, but only to be met with sharp aches going down my legs.

"Argh...why am I aching so badly?" I asked myself.

I started to walk down the street, taking a good look at the nearby buildings. None of them seemed familiar to me, as they all seemed too bright and colorful to be my home.

 _Nothing seems familiar...What happened to me?  
_

"Huh?"As I was walking along the street, I seemed to have stepped on something.

"Mrow?!" I looked down to see I was standing on a tail. At the end of that tail was a startled cat in the tall grass that had just woken up. The cat was different than most I'd ever seen it was purple with a gold coin glued to its head.

The cat had pulled its tail from under my foot.

"O-Oh...I'm sorry..." I apologized.

"Mrrrr..." The cat glared with anger at me.

"Uh...ehehe..." I sheepishly started to back up.

"Mrrr!" The cat started to run towards me.

"Gah!" I yelled as I started to run, with sharp pains still running through my body.

I ran quickly down the street, as fear and adrenaline rushed through my entire body.

"P-Please! I-I'm sorry! I didn't see you lying there!" I yelled.

"Mrow!" The cat cried in anger as it tried to pounce on me.

"Gah!" I yelled as I nearly dodged the cat.

I ran as hard as I could from the cat, but it seemed my luck had run out. It wasn't long before I had run into a dead end.

"Huff...Huff...D-Dead end?!" I yelled in disbelief.

I turned to the alley's entrance to see the cat had followed me to my dead-end path.

"Uh...N-Nice kitty?" I stuttered.

"Mrrrr..." The creature hissed and growled as it began to back me up to the end of the alleyway.

I tried to look around for a way out, but it seemed no use I was cornered.

 _Please oh please let this be just a really bad nightmare..._ I feared.

"Meow!" The cat growled.

"S-Someone help!" I screamed in fear.

"Rockruff! Use tackle!" A man yelled.

"Ruff!" I opened my eyes to see a little brown puppy charging towards the cat.

"Meo?-Mrow!" The purple cat turned around, only to be hit by the charging dog. The cat flew back a bit, falling on the ground.

"Grr...ruff!" The dog growled.

"You there!" I looked to the puppy's owner. The man was tall, and tan-looking, wearing a white hat on his head and a pair of glasses. He was wearing a white lab coat with no shirt underneath, gray shorts with a green rim, and green shoes. "Get away while that meowth is down!"

"O-Oh!" I stuttered as I scrambled to get on my feet, quickly limping, trying to get around the cat.

"Mrow..." The cat slowly rose to its feet.

I turned my head back at the sound of the cat.

The cat seemed to have anger in its eyes. It seemed to bend its legs as it watched me.

"Mrrr..MEOW!" The cat then pounced with its jaw wide open.

"AH!" I cried as I watched the alley cat pounce at me.

"Rup! Ruff!" The little dog barked as it ran in front of me, jumping into the air.

"MRRR!" The cat growled as it bit down on the dog.

"Rockruff! Use your bite attack as well!" The man yelled to his pet.

"Grrr...Ruff!" The dog obeyed as he bit down on the cat.

"Mrreow!" The cat flinched and stopped biting down on the dog.

I turned and saw the man pull out a little red and white ball from his pocket.

"Go! Pokeball!" The man yelled as he chucked the ball at the cat.

I watched in awe as the cat disappeared and entered the little ball. The capsule shook a couple times, before sparkling as the shaking stopped.

"Wh-What?" I said out loud. That cat went _inside_ the capsule?!

The man whom had saved me from the cat approached me.

"Are you alright, miss?" He asked.

I turned to the man in the white lab coat.

"Yes sir. I'm a little shaken up, but thanks to you I'm safe..." I replied.

"That's a relief. I was so worried when I heard someone calling for help." The man replied with a smile.

"Ruff!" The little dog grabbed the ball in his mouth and brought it to his owner.

"Thank you, Rockruff." The man smiled at his pet as he bent down to take the ball from the dog's mouth.

"Ruff!" The dog barked as he wagged his tail back and forth.

"...You named your dog rockruff?" I asked.

"Did I name it? No. It's name is already rockruff, it's species that is." He replied as he took his dog in his arms and stood up. "While we're on the subject of names, my name is Professor Kukui. Rockruff here is my partner." He introduced.

"Ruff!" Rockruff smiled excitedly. Getting a better look at the dog, I could see he was almost like a spitz dog breed, only the main part of his fur was colored like chocolate milk, with the paws and tips of his ears being a darker shade of brown. He also had cream color fur around his neck which had little brown rocks poking out of his fur, like a collar.

"My name is Ericka. Thank you for saving me." I thanked.

"It was no trouble at all. Erm, by the way, how did you find yourself in that situation in the first place?" Kukui asked.

"Oh...I dunno. I was just walking down the street when I stepped on that cat's tail. It seemed startled and started to chase me." I replied.

"Cat? Don't you mean meowth?" Kukui asked.

"Um...I don't know...what's a meowth?" I asked.

"It's a kind of pokemon. A dark type to be exact." Kukui replied.

"Sorry, but what's a pokemon?" I asked.

Kukui and Rockruff blinked.

"You don't know what a pokemon is?" He asked.

"Quite frankly, no. I'm not familiar with anything I've seen today to tell you the truth." I explained.

"Nothing seems familiar? That's not good...Do you know where we are now? We're right in the center of Hau'oli city..." The professor wondered.

"No. I've never heard of a name like that..." I replied with disappointment.

Our conversation was interrupted by a sudden pain jolting through my body.

"Gyh..." I grunted as I bent over from the pain.

"Are you alright?!" The professor asked.

"I really don't know...I've been hurting all day...I don't have a clue what's going on..." I explained.

"Here...Let me help you..." The professor bent down and helped me stand up.

"T-Thanks..." I stuttered.

"You're in no shape to be standing around here, in a place you don't know. Let me help you to my house. There you can get some rest."

"Well...Alright. Thank you." I weakly smiled.

* * *

As we walked along, the pain in my body started to go away. I was slowly able to walk on my own as Professor Kukui and rockruff escorted me to their home to the east. Kukui's house was on a small beach. The house itself was damaged a little bit. With wooden boards patching up any holes in the wall, and the fence was practically in pieces.

"You'll have to excuse the mess. I study pokemon moves as a profession, but unfortunately my house can take quite a beating." Kukui admitted.

"So, you study pokemon moves? Oh yeah, that reminds me, you never explained what a pokemon is?" I reminded him.

"Well...what's there to explain? Pokemon are the creatures that inhabit this world. They come in all different shapes and sizes. Rockruff here is a pokemon, a rock type." Professor Kukui explained.

"Ruff!" Rockruff joined in.

"They inhabit the world?" I asked.

"Yeah. You could go anywhere and most likely run into a pokemon." The professor added.

Professor Kukui walked up to the door and opened it.

"Honey! I'm home!" He yelled inside.

He then turned to me.

"Come on in, Ericka." He instructed.

I nodded and followed him inside. I noticed that as I was walking, Rockruff seemed to stay very close to me, as if he was excited about a new guest.

As I walked inside, everything seemed completely clean compared to the outside of the building. From what I could see, across from the door there was an aquarium, with some more strange creatures swimming around inside. To my right there was a staircase heading downstairs. To my left there was a table on top of a green carpet, with some a cough facing a flatscreen tv. Across from the tv there was a loft with a ladder to climb up to it. To the left of the loft, there was a small kitchen area.

"Wow..." I said as I took a look around.

"You like it? This is where I live." Kukui said as he walked over to the table.

"I love your house, I think it's awesome." I smiled.

"Why thank you." The professor smiled back.

"Ruff!" Rockruff smiled.

"Honey! Did you say you're home?" A woman yelled from down the stairs.

"Yes, Dear, and we have a guest!" Kukui yelled back.

I turned to the stairs as I saw a woman in a gray tank top, blue and black sweat pants, and had a dark green hairband holding her hair up.

The white-haired woman approached the professor.

"Hon, the machine's stabilizer is fried. I'm going to have to..." The woman paused as she saw me standing behind Kukui.

"Oh, I didn't realize we have a guest." She said, a little embarrassed.

"I just yelled down to you. Were you researching something big down there?"

"Yes...I must have been working so hard that I didn't hear you. Who is this?" She asked as she turned to me.

"This is Ericka. She was being chased by a wild meowth, so Rockruff and I saved her." Kukui explained.

"Ruff!" Rockruff barked proudly.

"Really now? I'm glad to see you're not hurt." The woman smiled.

"I'm glad to see that too...I've never seen a cat that mad before." I chuckled.

"Hahaha, I see you've got quite the humor there."

Professor Kukui turned to me.

"Ericka, this is my wife, Professor Burnet. She's studying the existence of other dimensions." He said.

"Other dimensions?! Is that even possible?" I asked.

"Oh yes, there are many dimensions that are known already, such as this dimension, the interdream dimension, Ultra space..."

"Okay, honey, I think she gets the idea." Kukui stopped her.

"I had no idea that there were such things as other dimensions. I of course hear about them in movies, but never thought they existed." I said.

"So, Honey, you were saying that the machine broke?" Kukui asked.

"Yes, the stabilizer on the machine just broke while I was trying to run it. It's a mess down there. I'm going to have to go to my lab in HeaHea city to get a replacement part." Burnet informed.

"So your machine didn't work, huh?" Kukui asked.

"I'm not sure yet if it worked. I still have to read the data from the experiment, but without all the parts working I can't access them. I'm going to have to visit my lab in Heahea city." Burnet said.

"Alright. Well, you'd better hurry before the next ship leaves." Kukui suggested.

"I know. I'll be sure to get there quickly."

Professor Burnet walked over to the door. She picked up a lab coat that was sitting by the door and put it on.

"I shouldn't be too long." Burnet said as she got her coat on.

The woman then turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry I have to leave just as you got here. I'll be sure to visit more when I get back." She assured me.

"Alright." I nodded in reply.

"See you two." Professor Burnet waved as she headed out the door.

Professor Kukui smiled lovingly at his wife as she left. As soon as she was out the door, Professor Kukui started to head to the kitchen area.

"Feel free to make yourself at home while I go get us something to drink." Kukui said as he walked over to the kitchen.

"Thank you." I thanked.

I turned my attention to the green couch and sat down on it.

As soon as I sat down, the little brown dog tried to jump onto the couch, only catching himself on his two front paws. Rockruff then climbed onto the seat next to me.

"Ruff!" Rockruff smiled as he wagged his tail at me.

"Hehe..." I smiled back at Rockruff as I petted his head.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Rockruff smiled at the petting, and inched closer to me, leaning on my lap.

"So what was your name again? Rockruff?" I asked it.

"Ruff!" Rockruff nodded in reply.

"You replied? I never expected a creature like you to understand my language." I commented.

"That's right. While pokemon can't talk themselves, they can understand human speech." Kukui said as he walked over from the kitchen area holding two mugs.

"I hope you like cocoa." Kukui said as he handed me one of the mugs.

"Cocoa? I love cocoa!" I smiled as I took the mug.

I saw that the cocoa had two marshmallows floating on the surface of the cocoa. I tilted the mug up to take a sip.

"Mmm...This is really good." I smiled.

"I'm glad you like it. I bought some special brand Tapu Cocoa the other day to bring home. It's one of my favorites too." Professor Kukui said.

I took another sip of the cocoa.

"So, you were telling me how you said nothing seemed familiar to you?" Kukui asked.

I removed the mug from my lips.

"Yeah. It's strange, but...I seemed to be unconscious somehow. After who knows how long I finally woke up, only to be in some unfamiliar city. I can remember many things, but not how I wound up in that city." I replied, trying to recall anything.

"So you said you can recall some things, right? What can you remember?" Kukui asked.

"Well...I can remember my name, my age, my family, my friends, my home, and a lot of other stuff...I just wish I knew what happened for me to get here..." I replied.

"Hmm...I'm afraid I can't explain that. But you said you could remember where you're from, right? Maybe if we start there we can get some clues."

"Alright...I'm from a city in Hawaii, Honolulu."

"Honolulu, Hawaii? Can't say I've heard of it."

"What? You don't?"

"At least, not from what I can recall. If you know the name of it, do you want to borrow my computer to search it up?"

"That'd be great, thanks." I thanked.

"Alright. Follow me downstairs, I have a laptop sitting on my desk." Professor Kukui said as he placed his mug of cocoa and got up from the couch.

I placed mine on the table as well and got up to follow him.

"Hopefully you'll be able to find some-What the?!"

"What is it?" I asked as I followed him down the stairs.

As I caught up to the professor, my eyes gazed from him to a whole room that seemed to be almost destroyed, like a bomb went off. The machine that Professor Burnet mentioned was completely black, as it seemed the explosion came from it.

"What happened in here?!" Kukui exclaimed.

"Wow...When Professor Burnet said it was a mess down here, she wasn't kidding..." I commented.

"Seeing this, I'm now even more relieved that she's not hurt, but look at this mess!" Kukui said as he looked around.

I walked over to the machine to take a look at it.

"What is this thing?"

"I'm not completely sure. It was supposed to be a machine my wife was experimenting with. She said something about figuring something out, but I didn't catch all of what she was saying." Kukui explained.

Kukui walked over to his desk, which was surprisingly unharmed.

"Oh good...my laptop is still working." Kukui said as he started doing something on his laptop.

"Here, Ericka. See if you can find your home city. I'm going to start cleaning up this mess." Kukui said as he walked away from the desk.

"Thanks, Professor." I said.

I walked over to his laptop which had the internet browser open. Only this search engine was called "Pokenet".

I typed in my home town into the search engine and hit enter.

"...Your search for "Honolulu, Hawaii" did not bring up any results. Did you mean Hau'oli City?" The computer screen read.

"It's no good. No results came up..." I said to the professor.

"So not even the internet knows your city...that's very odd." Kukui said as he came over to the desk.

"Ruff ruff!" As Kukui and I were staring at the screen, Rockruff came down the stairs.

"Rockruff. What's up?" Kukui asked as he turned to his dog.

"Ruff!" Rockruff motioned for us to follow him upstairs.

"Upstairs? Is someone here?" Kukui asked.

Kukui started to head up the stairs, followed by rockruff.

I turned my head to look at the computer screen again.

 _I can't believe no one's heard of my home...what is going on?_ I pondered.

I couldn't come up with any answers, so I decided to leave the computer for now, and follow the professor upstairs.

* * *

As I got up the stairs, I turned to the door to see the professor and a kid standing next to him. The kid was wearing a black shirt and yellow Hawaiian pants. His hair was a darn greenish color that was mostly tied up in a small ponytail, with some hair hanging down near his face.

"So Lillie is returning, huh? I can't wait to hear about her trip to Kanto." Kukui said as I walked up the stairs.

As I walked over to the two, the kid noticed me.

"Professor? Who is this?" The kid asked as he looked at me.

Kukui turned to see that I had approached them.

"Oh, I didn't see you come up." Kukui said to me.

"Hau, this is Ericka. She just arrived in Alola."

"Alola?" I asked.

"Alola, Ericka! It's great to meet a new face around here." Hau smiled.

 _...Did the kid think I was greeting him? Is "Alola" how these people greet each other?_

"Uh, yeah. Hi." I shyly greeted.

"Anyway, I heard she'll be here in a couple days. At least that's what her letter said." Hau said to the professor.

"Really now? I'll be looking forward to hearing about her trip." Kukui smiled.

"Who?" I asked as I stepped closer.

Hau turned to me with a glowing smile on his face.

"We're talking about our friend Lillie. A few months ago she left to journey to Kanto." Hau explained.

"Sorry...but what's Kanto?" I asked.

Hau's energetic smile turned into confusion.

"You don't know what Kanto is? Kanto is a region across the sea." Hau said as he looked at me funny.

Kukui stepped in.

"You'll have to excuse her, Hau. Ericka here found herself in Alola, but she has no knowledge of anything here." Kukui explained to Hau.

"No knowledge of anything? So...what does that mean?" Hau asked.

"I don't know...I woke up this afternoon somewhere in the city...but I can't recall how I ended up there. Nothing seems familiar to me. The towns, the cities, everything seems foreign to me." I said with a gloomy look.

Hau's face of confusion changed to a compassionate look.

"Oh...that's a bummer..." Hau replied.

Hau then turned to the professor.

"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know about Lillie. She said she'll be docking in Hau'oli city on Thursday."

"Good to know, Hau. Thanks for stopping by. Say hi to your old Hala for me." Kukui said.

"I will." Hau smiled back.

Hau then turned to me.

"It was nice to meet you, Ericka. I hope things work out for you." He said as he began to step out the door.

"Thanks..." I waved.

I watched as Hau left Kukui's house, and watched the door close behind him.

"..." I turned silently and started to walk towards the couch.

"Ruff?" Rockruff woofed as he watched me.

I, feeling defeated, sat on the couch with fear.

"Ericka...How are you feeling?" Kukui asked.

"Honestly...I'm worried...nothing is familiar to me...nothing at all...I'm far from home, and I don't know where the heck I am." I said as tears started to well up in my eyes.

"Roo..." Rockruff looked compassionately at me as he jumped onto the couch.

Kukui looked at me sympathetically as he walked over to me on the couch.

"Look...I know how hard this must be for you. I can tell it's not easy. I can't give you any answers, but I will do what I can to help. For now, while you're trying to figure things out, you're free to stay here. It may not be much, but you can stay up in the loft for now if you'd like." Kukui said as he tried to comfort me.

I looked up at the professor, with tears running down my face.

"Thank you, Professor Kukui. I think I'll have to take you up on that." I said, trying to smile.

* * *

 **Later that evening.**

After dinner, Kukui told me to check out where I would be staying. He insisted I climb up the ladder first. When I got to the top, I saw a small bed to my left, and a bookcase across from me, with a wooden railing on my right.

"Wow..." I said as I took a look around.

"Do you like it?" Kukui asked as he followed me on the ladder.

"I love it. It looks awesome." I smiled.

"Good. I hope you find it comfortable. about a year ago we had Lillie stay up here, but nothing has really changed." Kukui said.

"This is really nice, thank you." I smiled at Kukui.

"You're welcome. I hope you have a good night." Kukui said as he started to climb down the ladder.

"T-Thank you. G-Good night." I stuttered.

I took a look around the room and laid down on the bed.

It felt weird not having anything of my own with me. I don't have any change of clothes, or any of my belongings.

Feeling worried, I pulled thee blanket over my body and tried to start falling asleep.

 _..._

 _...Is this really happening? ...I'm so scared... I'm worried... I don't recognize a thing about this place. What could have happened to me to make me unconscious? Or aching? I can't remember what happened._

 _...What if I never go home?_

 _...What if I never see my family or friends again? Do they even know I'm gone?_

"Ruff..."

I lifted my head up to see that Rockruff had climbed up the ladder (somehow), and started to walk over to my bed.

"Hey, Rockruff." I said to the dog.

"Roo..." Rockruff jumped onto the bed, next to me, and snuggled up to me, almost trying to comfort me.

Strangely enough, it was comforting. This little dog sure looked different than any I'd seen, but he's a real friend.

"Thanks, Rockruff." I smiled at my new friend.

"Ruff..." Rockruff replied. I placed my arm over the little dog as the two of us began to fall asleep.

 _Maybe it isn't all bad...but hopefully tomorrow will bring some answers...For now, I need to get some sleep._

 _Goodnight Rockruff. Goodnight Professor Kukui. I hope we'll figure something out tomorrow._

* * *

 **Wow, guess that was quite a welcome to Alola, huh? So what do you guys think? Did you guys enjoy this first chapter? This is a brand new fanfic series that I'm hoping I'll be able to work on, depending on how this series goes.**

 **To help with the story, I'm going to post a little question at the end of each chapter. Call it a Question of the Chapter if you will.**

 **Alright, so here we go: What was your favorite pokemon you came across while playing Sun/Moon?**

 **Okay, hope you all liked this chapter and hope to see you next time. :)**

 **Serenity out!**


	2. New Beginnings (chapter 2)

**Hey guys! SerenityFaithful here back with another chapter!**

 **Last time, Ericka found herself in quite a pickle when she woke up in the Alola region. How will she handle her stay? Find out in today's chapter :P**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the pokemon creatures or the characters. The only one I own is my oc.**

 **Now, enjoy :)**

* * *

 **Ericka POV**

"Mmm..." Even though I was in a different bed than my own, this bed that Professor Kukui let me sleep on was pretty comfortable. I was sleeping like a rock.

"Roo..." I opened my eyes to look at the Rockruff sleeping next to me.

Rockruff looked like he was sleeping pretty soundly. The little dog seemed like he really wanted to sleep on the bed with me, and honestly it was nice to have a friend comfort me like that. My family never owned a dog as I was growing up, but after having a friend like Rockruff, it makes me want to get one.

I rolled on to my backside and looked up at the ceiling.

 _So this whole thing isn't a dream...I'm really stuck in this place...What's going to happen? Am I stuck here forever? Will I ever return home? Where is even here? I've never heard of it...  
_

"Roooo..." Rockruff stretched out as he started to wake up.

"Morning, Rockruff." I smiled at the dog.

"Ruff!" Rockruff smiled as he stared at me.

Rockruff hopped off the bed as I started to sit up.

As I sat up in bed, I looked down at my clothes.

 _I'm still in my same clothes, of course. I wonder...I'm probably gonna have to earn money for clothing somehow, I can't wear these forever. Besides...It feels like this place is a little warm for these kind of clothes..._

"Ruff?" Rockruff looked up at me as I stood up.

"Do you need help getting down?" I asked Rockruff.

"Roo!" Rockruff nodded in reply.

"Alright, here." I grabbed Rockruff in one arm and started to climb down the ladder.

"How did you even climb up this ladder in the first place?" I asked him as I carried Rockruff to the bottom.

"Ruff!" Rockruff jumped out of my hands as I lowered him to the ground.

I looked around the house. Everything seemed to be quiet as the morning started.

 _I wonder where Professor Kukui is?_

"Ruff?" I noticed that Rockruff was heading downstairs, probably heard someone down there.

"Rockruff, is something down there?" I asked as I followed the dog.

As I followed Rockruff, some banging and clanging could be heard from downstairs.

Rockruff and I went downstairs to find that Professor Burnet was working on her damaged machine.

"Ruff!" Rockruff eagerly ran over to the professor.

Professor Burnet was struggling to move a heavy-looking part form the machine

"Rockruff...give me a second would you?" She said as she struggled to move the part.

Professor Burnet lifted the machine part and placed it to the side. As soon as the machine part was off to to the side, she bent down and picked up Rockruff.

"Ruff!" Rockruff wagged its tail as she held him.

"Heheh!" I chuckled as I watched Rockruff.

Professor Burnet turned to me.

"Oh! I didn't see you there. Good morning." She smiled.

"Morning! I'm guessing you got the part for your machine?" I asked.

"Unfortunately no. I looked at my lab, but there weren't any backups. I had to order the part, so now I'm just trying to clean up this machine a bit." She said.

"That's too bad you didn't have any extra parts..." I replied.

"It's not that bad. I just have to wait a little bit until the part comes. It shouldn't take too long." Burnet said as Rockruff was nuzzling her.

Burnet then turned to the little puppy.

"You're quite affectionate today, aren't you?" Burnet smiled.

"Roo!" Rockruff smiled.

Professor Burnet smiled as she bent down to let Rockruff down. After that, she then approached me.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to talk much last night. I'm afraid I didn't get back until late last night." She said to me.

"That's alright, Professor Kukui and Rockruff kept me company." I replied.

"That's good. He told me you were aching pretty badly yesterday, I'm glad to see you're looking well." She said.

"Yeah, strangely the sharp pains have gone away pretty quickly." I replied.

"That's good. I bet that meowth must have really gotten you good, huh?" She said.

"Actually it wasn't the meowth that caused the aching. But then again, I can't really say for sure what cause the aching in the first place." I replied.

"You don't know how you started aching?"

"Quite frankly, no." I replied.

"Hmm...that's odd..." Professor Burnet hummed in thought.

As Professor Burnet and I were talking, we heard a door from upstairs.

"Oh, that must be Kukui." Burnet said.

"I was wondering where he was..." I said.

"Lets go meet him then." Burnet said as she started up the stairs.

"Ruff!" Rockruff followed Professor Burnet, with me tagging along behind them.

* * *

As the three of us got to the top, we saw Professor Kukui over by the table.

"Morning, Honey." Burnet said to her husband.

"Morning, Dear." Professor Kukui said to his wife.

Kukui then looked behind her and saw me.

"Good morning, Ericka. I trust you slept pretty well?" Kukui asked.

"Yes I did, thank you." I replied.

"Kukui, where did you go?" Burnet asked.

"Well, I snuck out this morning to head into town, and I got something for Ericka here."

"F-For me?" I asked.

"Yup. Here." Kukui said as he handed me a plastic bag.

I took the bag and opened it up to find a yellow v-neck shirt, blue shorts, and a white trilby hat.

"Wow!" I said as I looked at the new clothing.

"I figured that you might want to have a change of clothing on hand, so I went to the clothing store in town and got you some things." He said.

"This is too kind, Professor Kukui, thank you." I smiled.

"You're welcome. Feel free to try those on in the bathroom." Kukui said.

"I will." I said as I took the bag of clothing and headed towards the bathroom.

* * *

 **3rd person POV**

Ericka went to get changed in the bathroom. Meanwhile, Professor Kukui, Professor Burnet, and Rockruff were in the living room.

"Kukui? It's nice you got her those clothes, but why did you get them for her?" Professor Burnet asked.

"Did I forget to tell you yesterday? Ericka told me when we met that she woke up nothing seemed familiar to her." Kukui explained.

"N-Nothing at all?" Burnet asked.

"No. She said she woke up with terrible pains. She said to me she'd never seen a pokemon either, so the poor thing was frightened by that meowth, both because it was attacking her and she'd never seen a meowth before. With her aching like that, and no place to stay, I figured she'd have to stay here until I could figure out what to do." Kukui added.

"Does she know how she got here anyway? Like where she's from?" She asked.

"No. She told me she can remember some things, but everything that she's encountered since she arrived in Hau'oli city has been foreign to her."

"So...Is that why you had her come here?" Burnet asked.

"Part of it, the other reason was because she was hurting so bad. The poor thing could hardly stand."

"I see...I wish I knew this earlier...I can't imagine how the poor thing must be feeling in a place she doesn't know."

"It was pretty hard on her when it hit her. Though today it seems she's feeling a little bit better."

"It might seem it, but can you be sure? I mean I can imagine it must be scary for her to be in a place where everything unfamiliar." Burnet said with a worried face.

"To be honest, I never thought about it like that..." Kukui said, putting his hand to his chin in thought.

"Do you know if there's any way we can help her out?"

"I don't know. I want to help her get back home, but I don't know where she comes from...I just hope there's something we can do..." Kukui said.

* * *

 **Ericka POV**

I got my new outfit on eagerly. I really love the yellow shirt compared to my usual green hoodie. It was also great to be able to wear shorts instead of long jeans.

As I finished getting my outfit on, I collected my old clothes and placed it back into the plastic bag.

I eagerly walked out of the bathroom wearing my new outfit, and went to find Professor Kukui and Burnet.

The two were in the living room talking, along with Rockruff.

"Ruff!" Rockruff ran over to me excitedly.

"H-Hey." I stuttered as I watched the puppy run around me.

The two professors looked at me.

"Ericka, you look great in that outfit!" Kukui complimented.

"I agree. Yellow is a nice color on you." Burnet smiled.

"Really? T-Thank you!" I replied.

"Ruff!" Rockruff wagged its tail happily.

I walked over to the ladder and climbed up to the loft to put my other clothes on my bed.

As I was up in the loft, I heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Professor Burnet said as she turned to the door.

I climbed down the ladder to see who was at the door.

"Oh hello, Hau! What a nice surprise!" Professor Burnet said.

"Hi, Professor Burnet. Um...Is Ericka around?" Hau asked.

"Yeah, she's right here. Come on in." She said, holding the door open.

"Thank you." Hau said.

"Hey, Hau." Professor Kukui greeted.

"Alola, Professor Kukui. Hi Ericka." Hau greeted as he saw me.

"I was hoping that maybe I could show Ericka around a little today, since she's unfamiliar with the place and all..." Hau said.

"I think that's a fine idea. It would be a good idea for you to see everything, Ericka. What do you think?" Kukui asked as he turned to me.

"Um...I'm just wondering...is there a chance we might get attacked by pokemon?" I asked, recalling back to the meowth.

"Not unless we use our pokemon. I have my incineroar, so we'll be fine." Hau assured.

"Alright. In that case, I'd love to take a look around." I replied.

Hau then smiled excitedly.

"Then it's settled! I can't wait to show you everything." Hau smiled.

Hau then turned to the two professors.

"I shouldn't have her out too long, I just want to show her around Route 1 and Iki town." Hau said.

"Sounds good, Hau. Hey, I hope you two have fun." Kukui smiled.

"Thanks." I smiled back.

"Let's go, Ericka." Hau said.

The two of us headed to the door.

"We'll see you guys later!" Hau waved.

"Later you two!" Professor Burnet said as we left the house.

Hau and I stepped out on to the white sandy beach. The water looked beautiful as it sparkled in the sunlight.

"So where are we going first?" I asked.

"Well, route 1 is on the way to Iki town, so we'll head there first." Hau said.

"So you said you have a pokemon called..incineroar?" I asked.

"Yeah. I got it as a starter pokemon from my gramps." Hau said, holding incineroar's pokeball in his right hand.

"How do you get a pokemon?" I asked.

"Well, my old man gives pokemon to new trainers. Do you have any pokemon?' Hau asked.

"No, I don't." I replied.

"Then how about we ask him to give you a pokemon? I'm sure he'd be glad to!" Hau suggested.

"Really? You sure he wouldn't mind?" I asked.

"I'm certain of it. He usually gives out pokemon to new trainers." Hau replied.

"Then yeah, a pokemon would be kind of cool." I said.

"Great! Then lets hurry and get to Iki Town." Hau said, picking up speed as he walked excitedly.

I kept up my pace to keep up with Hau.

 _To think...I can have a pokemon of my own? I wonder if these pokemon look anything like Rockruff or that Meowth?_

* * *

Hau and I made our way through Route 1 all the way to Iki town. This place looked pretty cool. The entrance had a wooden gate greeting us to this town. as we walked through and up the steps, there were a few houses around us, but ahead of us there were a few more steps, with some tikis greeting us from the top.

"Wow..." I said as I looked around.

"Ericka, this is Iki Town. This is where my grandpa and I live. Our house is just up those steps." Hau said as he pointed to the stairs ahead of us.

"It looks pretty cool." I said to him.

Hau and I walked up the second staircase to where the path curved to the left. At the end of the curved path, there was a wooden platform in the center of town.

"What is this thing?" I asked as we both approached it.

"This platform here is where we usually hold our festivals. Trainers just starting out will have a chance to battle here and prove themselves worthy trainers. I did this not too long ago with a friend of mine. It was super fun." Hau said.

"A fine battle that was indeed. How I would love to watch you battle him again."

Hau and I turned our attention to this older man, who looked like a kahuna.

"Hey, Grandpa!" Hau smiled at his grandpa.

"Alola, Hau. So, is this the girl you were telling me about?" The man asked.

"Yeah. Grandpa, this is my friend Ericka. Ericka, this is my gramps." Hau said, introducing us.

"Well, Ericka, it's great to meet you. My name is Hala. Hau has told me about you."

"He has?" I asked.

"Yep. He told me that you're new to our island, no?"

"Er...yeah, I am."

"Gramps, Ericka was just telling me that she doesn't have any pokemon. Is it possible you could give her one?" Hau asked him.

"While I'd love to, Hau, I'm afraid I don't have any pokemon to give to Ericka. I've given out my last pokemon to another trainer" Hala said.

"Oh...Well thanks anyway." I sighed in disappointment.

"I should be able to have some pokemon next week if you want to come by then." Hala suggested.

"I'll consider it, thanks." I replied.

Hau suddenly got more excited as he started thinking.

"Ericka, there's this one place I want to show you. It's just north of here." Hau suggested.

"Oh, are you off to show her the ruins of conflict?" Hala asked.

"Yeah." Hau nodded.

"Um...What's the Ruins of Conflict?" I asked.

"You haven't heard of the old ruins?" Hala asked as he turned to me, "Well that's where the island guardian lives." Hala explained.

"Island Guardian?" I asked.

"Yes. Have you heard of Tapu Koko?" Hala asked me.

"Um...I think that's the kind of cocoa Professor Kukui made for me." I replied.

"Bahahaha!" Hau started to burst with laughter at my reply.

"H-huh? Did I say something weird?" I asked as I started to blush.

Hala shook his head.

"No, child. See, that cocoa brand is named after the island guardian. Tapu Koko is the guardian who protects this island." Hala expained.

"Oh..." I responded.

"As for you..."

Hala turned to his grandson, who was wiping away a tear forming in his eye. As he wiped away the tear, he noticed that his grandpa was glaring at him for Hau's reaction.

"...OH! I'm sorry...It was just a really funny reply, hahahaha!" Hau said, starting to laugh again.

I began to blush as I heard him laugh again.

Hala shook his head in slight embarrassment.

"You'll have to excuse him...Now Hau, I want you to go take Ericka to see the Ruins of Conflict. Make sure she sees the temple." Hala said.

Hau stopped his laughter and looked up at Hala.

"Alright. Let's get going, Ericka." Hau smiled at me.

"O-Okay." I replied.

"We'll see you later, Gramps." Hau smiled as he started to run north for the ruins of conflict.

"H-Hey! Wait for me!" I yelled to him as I started to follow.

"You two be careful!" Hala yelled to us.

"We will!" I yelled back to him, before continuing to run after Hau.

* * *

I managed to catch up to Hau who was standing on a tall cliff looking over a wide and deep river. There was another cliff on the other side of the river that was accessible thanks to a long black steel bridge.

"Wow...This place is pretty high up." I commented as I looked down.

"Yep. Ericka, across this bridge is where the Ruins of Conflict are. That's where Tapu Koko's altar is." Hau explained.

"Cool, let's go check it out." I replied.

Hau and I started walking across the long bridge. It really made you feel nervous when walking across, as the bridge held you high up over a wild river far below. Even though the bridge was secure, you couldn't help but feel dizzy at the sight. Still, it is a secure bridge, and the nice cool breezes makes it feel almost relaxing.

"Hey Ericka? You know you said you're not from Alola, right? So where is it you're from?" Hau asked.

I turned to Hau.

"Well...You probably haven't heard of it, but I'm from Honolulu, Hawaii." I replied.

"Where's that?" Hau asked.

"To be honest, I'm not even sure myself where it is. Ever since I've been here, no one I've asked knows where it is. It's not even on the internet." I replied.

"Wait, it's not on the internet? Really? So what does that mean?" Hau asked.

"I...I'm not sure. Professor Kukui is letting me stay at his house until we can figure something out, but honestly I'm not sure if I'll ever get home. No one knows where it is, so what is there to garuntee I'll get home?" I replied.

"There's gotta be something...I mean you came here from that place, so maybe that's a start..." Hau said as we continued to walk.

"So you said you're from a place called Hawaii? Do they have pokemon where you're from?" Hau asked.

"No, we don't. The closest thing you might get to that are some wild animals or animals at the zoo, but no, we don't have any pokemon."

"What? How could you not have pokemon where you're from?" Hau asked.

"I don't know. From what Kukui told me, pokemon are found all over the world, but where I'm from there aren't any." I replied.

"That's...odd."

"You're telling me. I've never even seen a meowth or a rockruff until just yesterday." I said.

"I've never heard of that honestly. Almsot everyone I've met knows about pokemon, so I never thought it was possible that someone didn't know." He said.

I continued to walk down the bridge, when Hau stopped for a minute.

"...You know what you were telling me yesterday? That you've never been to Alola and you just discovered yourself here?"

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Well...That must be really hard, isn't it? To suddenly wake up in a place you've never seen, and you don't know anything about what's happened..." Hau said.

Hau's head nodded down as he stared down at the bridge.

"I...I'm sorry I laughed at you earlier. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but I hadn't thought about how you've never been to Alola. Not knowing anything about this place must be really hard...I didn't mean to hurt you if I did, I just thought it was a funny when we were talking about Tapu Koko." Hau apologized.

I turned around to look at Hau.

"It's alright. To be honest, if I heard anything like that I would probably laugh my head off." I chuckled.

Hau looked up and started to smile.

"Well...I'm glad we're cool." He smiled. "Let's hurry up and get to that temple."

"Sure." I smiled back at him as the two of us started to walk towards the end of the bridge.

Hau and I got across the bridge to the temple entrance. The entrance way had two curved boards that were painted yellow at the bottom, and the curves met at the top, with a third triangle board that had a white triangle symbol written on it.

"Ericka, this place is where Tapu Koko's altar is. It's where everyone goes to give thanks to him." Hau explained.

"So...what is Tapu Koko anyway? I know you told me he's a...guardian?" I asked.

"Yeah. Tapu Koko is the island guardian of Melemele Island, the island we're on now. Alola has four islands all with their own guardian. You know that wooden platform in town? That's where everyone gathers to hold festivals in Tapu Koko's honor." Hau explained.

"I see." I replied.

"C'mon, lets go check it out." Hau said as he lead me into the temple.

* * *

We made our way through the temple to the last room where there was a shrine on a stone and wooden platform. The platform was held up by large stones, with two wooden staircases on each side so you could walk up to the altar. On top of the platform there was a stone statue that had gigantic leaves and red flowers behind it decorating it.

"Woah...This is quite the room for a guardian pokemon." I said.

"I know, right? C'mon, let's go check it out." Hau said as he headed for the stairs on the right.

"O-Okay." I said as I followed him.

Hau climbed up the stairs and found himself in front of the stone statue.

"Isn't this pretty cool, Ericka?" Hau asked as he turned to me.

Hau turned to the stone statue.

"Hello, Tapu Koko. It's me, Hau. I hope you've been well." Hau smiled at the statue.

 _Is he...talking to a rock?_

 _"_ Hau, are you talking to that statue?" I asked.

"It's not a statue. This is Tapu Koko. At least it's altar." Hau explained to me.

"I've brought my friend Ericka, but you'll have to excuse her. She's new to our island, so she's still learning about our ways. I wanted to introduce her to you." Hau smiled as he continued.

Hau then turned to me.

"Here, Ericka, say hi." Hau instructed as he stepped out of the way.

"What? M-Me?" I stuttered.

I stood in front of the stone statue.

 _What do you even say to a rock? It's just sitting here, not doing anything._

"Um...Hi?"

 ** _"KREEEE!"_**

Suddenly, a force from the statue pushed me back as a voice cried out from it.

"W-What the?!" I said as I fell back.

"Ericka, are you okay?!" Hau asked.

I looked up at the statue, only to see a golden glow appearing in front of me. It seemed as if something was materializing right in front of me.

I saw it. For a few seconds, a yellow creature with an orange crest was fading in and out of the room.

"W-What?!"

Before my eyes, for a split second, the thing appeared clear for a second.

 _ **"You...You are the one."**_

After that, another glow appeared as the creature disappeared from my sight.

"What the..." I said, dumbfounded by what had just happened.

"Ericka, are you okay?" Hau asked as he helped me up.

"Y-Yeah...what was that thing?" I asked.

"What thing?" Hau asked.

 _What?_

"Didn't you see it? Right now, a strange looking creature appeared." I said.

Hau looked at me confused.

"...I didn't see it?"

"R-Really? But it was just here!" I said.

"...I don't know what just happened, but I didn't see it." Hau said.

"You're kidding..." I said.

 _Hau didn't see it? Then...what was that just now that I saw? That creature...Was that Tapu Koko?_

"Well...I think we've seen enough of the temple for today. How about we head back into town?" Hau said.

"A-Alright?" I stuttered.

Hau started down the left stairs. I was about to follow, when I felt something placed in my hand.

"H-Huh?"

I looked down into my right hand to see a white stone bracelet thing with a weird design on the front of it.

 _What is this thing?_ I thought.

I turned back to look at the stone statue. It was silent as a rock now, but somehow, it was alive.

"C'mon, Ericka." Hau said, who was already at the room's exit.

"C-Coming!" I said as I placed the stone into my right pocket.

Hau waited for me as I caught up to him.

"Ericka, let's head back to town. I want to show you some more things, maybe even introduce you to my pokemon." Hau smiled.

"Really? That'd be cool." I smiled back.

"Let's get going then." Hau replied.

* * *

 **Later that day.**

The day flew by as I spent the day with Hau. As the day turned to evening, I returned to Professor Kukui's home.

"Hey, I'm back." I said as I opened the door and walked in.

"Hey Ericka, how was it with Hau?" Professor Kukui asked as he approached me.

"It was really fun. He showed me around Iki Town, and the Ruins of Conflict, and he introduced me to Hala and Hau's pokemon too." I replied.

"It sounds like you had a fun time." Kukui replied, "I'm heating up some dinner, so we're going to be eating in a little bit.

"Really? Great." I smiled.

Exhausted, I walked over to the couch and sat down.

Professor Kukui headed over to the kitchen area where some food was being prepared.

"Hey, Ericka? Could you head downstairs and tell Professor Burnet that dinner is ready?" Kukui asked.

"Sure." I said as I got up.

I ran over to the stairs and headed into the lab.

As I got downstairs, I saw Professor Burnet and Rockruff down there.

"Hey Professor Burnet." I greeted.

Professor Burnet was finishing any repairs she could do on the machine when she heard me.

"Oh hello, Ericka." She smiled as she finished what she was doing.

"Ruff!" Rockruff barked as he playfully ran over to me.

"Hehe, hey Rockruff." I smiled as I lifted him into my arms.

"Professor Burnet, Professor Kukui said dinner is ready." I told her.

"Alright. Sounds good." She said.

The three of us headed up the stairs. Professor Burnet headed to the kitchen area where Kukui was while Rockruff and I went over and sat on the couch, across from the tv.

"Ruff!" Rockruff, being affectionate as ever jumped up and put his two front paws on my shoulder, and started nuzzling me.

"Hehe!" I chuckled at the puppy.

Kukui came over with a some dishes in his hands.

"Alright, here you go Ericka." Kukui said as he placed a plate in front of me on the table.

The food looked like big donuts almost.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's one of the specialties of Melemele, malasada." Kukui replied as he placed another plate down to my left.

"Hmm..." I bent down and grabbed my plate as Professor Burnet sat down next to Professor Kukui with her plate.

I took a bite of the malasada.

 _Wow...this malasada is really good...It's sweet and delicious!_

"This is really good!" I smiled as I continued to eat.

"I'm glad you enjoy it. I picked it up in Hau'oli city." Kukui smiled.

"So, Ericka, did you enjoy spending time with Hau?" Professor Burnet asked.

"I sure did. He showed me around Iki Town, introduced me to his pokemon, and even his grandpa, Hala." I replied.

"That's great." She smiled.

I turned my head to look into space.

 _It was a really good day...It's too bad I couldn't get a pokemon though...It would have been kind of cool._ I thought as I ate my food.

Professor Kukui turned to look at me.

"Something on your mind, Ericka?" He asked as he ate.

I turned to the professor.

"Well...I was just thinking...Hau told me that Hala gives pokemon to new trainers. I wanted to ask him for one, but unfortunately Hala didn't have any pokemon left." I replied, still staring into space.

"Ah, so I'm guessing you want to be a pokemon trainer while you're in Alola, huh?" He asked.

"W-Well...The idea sounds really interesting. To have pokemon friends by your side, it would be really cool. I saw the strong bonds Hau had with his pokemon. I'm thinking it would be really awesome to be a trainer." I replied.

I couldn't help the way I felt. I don't know if it was the new idea that was introduced to me, or just an overwhelming desire for a friend. I can't explain it, but something's telling me I want to be a trainer.

"It might be a good idea for you to have a pokemon. That way you can travel around Alola without having to worry about wild pokemon attacking you." Professor Burnet added as she was near finished with her malasada.

I continued to eat my malasada. I noticed that while I was eating, Rockruff was leaning against my lap, placing his head on my leg.

 _This dog is really awesome. It's so loving._ I thought as I looked down at Rockruff.

"You know...I might have an idea." Kukui said as he continued to eat.

"And what's that?" Professor Burnet asked.

Kukui continued to eat.

"Well let me finish my dinner first." Kukui smirked.

"Hmm?" I looked at him with confusion, but let it go as I started to finish my food.

* * *

After we finished dinner, Professor Kukui told us to wait in the living room while he walked down to the lab to get something.

Professor Burnet, Rockruff, and I waited upstairs. Professor Burnet took our dishes over to the kitchen while I was petting Rockruff on the couch.

"Okay, Ericka." Professor Kukui said as he came up the stairs.

Rockruff jumped off of me as I stood up from the couch.

"What was your idea?" I asked him as I walked up to him.

Professor Burnet walked over from the kitchen to join us.

"Well...You were saying how you wanted a pokemon, so..." Professor Kukui reached into his pocket and grabbed a pokeball.

"I want you to have this." He said as he handed me a pokeball.

"Is this?" I looked at the pokeball.

 _Let's see...if I remember how Hau let his pokemon out, he just threw the pokeball in the air?_

I did so and threw the pokeball in the air to let the pokemon out.

As the pokeball was thrown, it opened and released a pokemon from inside.

The pokemon that materialized was a purple cat with a gold coin on it's head.

"Is that?!" I asked as I looked at the cat.

I knew it when I saw it, it was the same meowth that attacked me in Hau'oli city

As I was looking at it, the meowth was glaring at me with anger. It wasn't as angry as before, but it was mad. It didn't seem to like me too much.

"It this the same meowth that attacked me?" I asked him.

"It is. But, I gave it a little bit of training, so it's tamer than it was before." Kukui said.

"But...is it safe?" I asked.

I stared at the meowth. It looked like it really didn't want anything to do with me.

"Why not find out?" Kukui asked.

I looked down at the meowth and hesitantly began to approach it.

The meowth looked like it wanted to run, but for some strange reason, it stood there.

I bent down and got close to it.

"H-Hi there..." I said nervously.

I hesitantly reached my hand out to touch it.

The meowth glared at me, and without warning, it used its claws to scratch my hand.

"Gyah!" I grunted as I pulled my hand back.

I stared into the eyes of the meowth, but I didn't move.

 _This meowth is still pretty mad...But, I want to be its friend..._

I decided to try again. I reached my hand out for it, preparing for any attacks.

"Mrrr..." The meowth looked at me angrily.

"Meowth...I'm-"

"Mrow!" Meowth took another swing at my arm, but this time I didn't pull it back.

"Hrgh..." I kept my arm out and kept trying to reach the Meowth.

"Ericka!" Professor Burnet yelled as I held my arm.

"Mrrr." The meowth still looked angry at me.

"Kukui, is this safe?" Professor Burnet asked as she turned to her husband.

"Just trust me..." Professor Kukui whispered to her.

"Meowth...I don't want to hurt you, I just want to be your friend." I said to it.

"Meow!" The meowth continued to scratch my arms. As much as it hurt, I didn't stop until I was finally able to grab it.

"Mrr?" Meowth looked down at my arms confusingly.

As my arms held the meowth's body, I gently pulled it close to me.

"See? I just want to be your friend." I said as I held the meowth.

"Mrr..." The meowth still had a glare on its face, but it stopped scratching my arms.

I stared at the pokemon excitedly.

 _This pokemon...this meowth is mine. It might not like me very much now, but this is my pokemon._

I placed the meowth down so he was standing on the floor again. As soon as meowth was on the floor, Rockruff ran over to greet it.

"Ruff!" Rockruff smiled as he wagged his tail.

"Mrr..."

"Ruff?"

The meowth turned away from Rockruff's greeting. This pokemon seemed to have an attitude, but there wasn't anything I could do about that for now.

"Ehehe..." I sighed.

I stood up as Professor Kukui approached us.

"So Ericka, will this one do?" Kukui asked.

"Yeah. It might not like me too much now, but I think I want this one." I replied.

"Mrr?" I looked out of the corner of my eye to see the meothw staring up at me with surprise, but then kept an angry look.

"That's good. But remember, pokemon are friends, so be sure to keep this meowth with care." Kukui instructed.

I nodded in reply.

"I will, for sure." I said.

Professor Burnet walked over to us.

"I'd hate to interrupt, but shouldn't we be getting to bed?" Professor Burnet asked.

"Yeah, we probably should." Kukui said.

"Yeah, I'm a little worn out from today." I said.

I walked over and bent down to pick up Meowth.

"Mrr..." Meowth still had an angry look on its face, but for some reason it didn't attack me like before.

Professor Kukui turned to Rockruff.

"So Rockruff, are you going to sleep in the loft again tonight?" Kukui asked.

"Ruff!" Rockruff nodded.

"Alright." Kukui nodded as he bent down to pick up Rockruff.

Professor Kukui walked over to the ladder and climbed up to place Rockruff in the loft.

"Is that how he got up there yesterday?" I asked.

"Yep. I helped him up there last night." Kukui smiled as he got down.

"I see."

"Well, I'm headed to bed. Night everyone." Professor Burnet said as she headed for the bedroom.

"Night Professor Burnet." I said.

"Goodnight, all." Professor Kukui said as he walked over to turn off the lights.

I held Meowth in one arm and climbed him up to the loft.

I waved to Professor Kukui as he too went off to bed.

"Mrr..." Meowth meowed as he was placed on the floor. He then looked up at me.

"I know you were in that pokeball for awhile, but I figure you might like to sleep out here. What do you think?" I asked meowth.

"...Mrrow." Meowth shrugged as he walked over to the corner and curled up.

"Ruff!" Rockruff barked as he walked over to Meowth and curled up next to him.

"Mrow?" Meowth looked at Rockruff.

"Ruff!" Rockruff smiled at the meowth.

"Mrr..." Meowth shrugged again as he rested his head and began to go to sleep.

 _Rockruff...hehe!_

I smiled as I climbed into my bed.

"Good night everyone." I smiled.

I sat on the bed and lied down.

"Hmm?"

I noticed I felt something in my right pocket.

I reached in and found the weird stone from before.

 _Oh yeah, I still have this thing...I wonder, what on earth was that creature in front of the statue? Was that Tapu Koko? If so, what is this thing, and why did he give it to me? I definitely didn't have this before..._

I shrugged as I placed the stone in my hat and placed it on the nearby table.

 _Oh well...Tomorrow is another day. Maybe I'll train meowth a little._

 _Good night, Alola!_

* * *

 **Hey guys! Woah, guess I wrote a pretty big chapter, huh? I had so much I wanted to include that I couldn't stop writing.**

 **So, now Ericka has a pokemon of her own, Meowth. But the question is, will this Meowth grow close to her or will they remain separated? What is Tapu Koko's plan for Ericka? What was the mysterious stone that Ericka received? Well, you're just gonna have to stick around and find out :D  
**

 **Qotc: What was your first caught pokemon in Sun/Moon?**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you next time! :D**


	3. We're friends now! Lillie's Debut! (ch3)

**Meowth POV**

It was getting late as I found myself in some man's house. Ever since I was captured, the man trained me a bit, and gave me to some girl he knew. Now that girl is fast asleep in her bed, while I'm trying to sleep here in the corner next to some Rockruff.

"Hmm..." I turned my head up to look at the girl.

 _For some reason, this girl is different... I had this hatred for her when I first encountered her, heck, I still have a bit of a grudge... I don't know whether to trust her or not. But...is it okay for me to trust her? To trust a human? Why is this a conflict I'm having?  
_

"Can't sleep?"

I turned my head to the Rockruff who was lying next to me.

I quickly laid my head back down.

"No. Just thinkin'." I scoffed.

The rockruff smiled as he got up and walked closer to me.

"So, what do you think of Ericka?" Rockruff asked.

I looked at the rockruff out of the corner of my eye.

"Is that her name? She's okay I guess." I replied.

Rockruff then sat next to me.

"Ericka's a really nice person. She's kind and she gives great pettings." Rockruff smiled as he wagged his tail.

"You belong to the Kukui guy, right?" Meowth asked.

"I do."

"So let me ask, what are your thoughts on humans?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Humans? Well I like the humans I've met. Kukui's really nice, and so is Burnet and Ericka, and then there's a boy named Hau, a girl named Lillie, and another boy na-"

"Yeah, I get it, you've met a lot of people. But what is your opinion on 'em?"

"Well I like the people I've met. What else is there to say? I like my friends, and they like me in return."

I stared at the Rockruff.

"You trust humans?" I asked.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Rockruff asked.

I turned my head and stared away from Rockruff.

"It's nothin'. I was just asking."

Nothing was said between the two of us for a minute or so. I just kind of looked around the room from the view of the loft.

"Hey, I'm sorry I had to attack you." Rockruff said.

"Huh?"

I turned my head back to the puppy pokemon.

"When we were battling back in the alleyway." Rockruff said, looking sorry.

"Oh that? That was nothing. Back in those streets I'm used to fighting." I replied.

"You fight in the city?" Rockruff asked.

"Yeah. That's how it is. Every pokemon for themselves out in the streets." I replied as I laid my head back down.

"That must be pretty lonely." Rockruff said.

"I'm used to it."

"Well you're gonna have to get un-used to it." Rockruff said.

I turned my head to the rockruff in confusion.

"What do ya mean?" I asked.

"You've got a partner to fight with you. You don't have to be alone." Rockruff smiled.

"Argh...I don't need a partner, I just wanna sleep." I groaned as I laid my head back down.

"Alright. Goodnight!" Rockruff smiled as he too lied down to sleep.

 _How dare this happen...this human...why?_

* * *

 **The Next Day**

 **Ericka POV**

It was late morning as I found myself, Meowth, Rockruff, Professor Kukui, and Professor Burnet downstairs on the couch, finishing breakfast and watching the tv.

"Ruff!" Rockruff was sitting on the floor watching the tv excitedly. There was some show on featuring a pokemon trainers on the tv, and promoting something called a "pokemon league".

Meowth and I were sitting across from the tv. Meowth wasn't quite used to me yet, but we're still partners. I don't fully understand what being a pokemon trainer means, but I'm determined to find out. I figured that since we're not that close yet, maybe keeping out of its pokeball would somehow help us to grow closer.

I stared down at the meowth curled up next to me on the couch. It's expression hadn't changed much since I first obtained it last night.

 _Is it still mad about how I stepped on its tail the other day? Why does it have such a grudge against me?_

"Come and challenge the pokemon league! Right on Ula Ula island!" The tv man said excitedly.

Professor Kukui stood up from the couch, grabbed our plates and walked them over to the kitchen.

"So Ericka, do you have any plans for today?" Professor Burnet asked.

"Not really." I replied.

"Ericka, I was thinking, since you've just gotten your pokemon last night, how about we have a pokemon battle?" Professor Kukui asked.

I looked up the the professor.

"A pokemon...battle?" I asked.

"Yeah. Since you're a pokemon trainer, you're going to be battling a lot." Kukui explained.

I looked down at my meowth, who was looking up at the professor.

"So pokemon are used for battling? How does that work?" I asked.

"Well you remember when I used rockruff to battle meowth? The two pokemon used moves to battle each other. Pokemon trainers fight with their pokemon to gain experience and grow together." Professor Kukui said.

"Okay...I guess I'll give it a shot. How about you, Meowth?" I asked as I looked down at the cat.

"Mrrr..." The meowth had a somewhat annoyed look on its face, but seemed to almost agree.

"I'm guessing that's a yes?" I replied as I looked up at the professor.

"Great." Professor Kukui said.

The professor turned to his pokemon.

"Are you up for battle, Rockruff?"

"Ruff!" Rockruff nodded in reply, wagging his tail in excitement.

"Awesome. Let's head outside first..."

* * *

Professor Kukui led us all outside on the beach. The sun was high in the sky, shining down on the white sands. The view was accompanied by the soft sounds of the ocean's waves hitting the shore.

"Alright, Ericka. Now, your meowth knows the moves Scratch, Bite, and growl. When a trainer battles with his or her pokemon, the trainer shouts moves for the pokemon to use." Professor Kukui explained.

"Scratch, growl, and bite, got it." I repeated.

Professor Kukui walked over to one side of the beach, with his Rockruff following right behind him.

"Now Ericka, you stand a distance from me and have Meowth get in front of you." Professor Kukui explained.

I nodded, and walked a good distance away, with Meowth reluctantly following.

"Ready, Rockruff?"

"Ruff!" Rockruff barked in reply as he ran in front of Kukui.

"Mrr..." Meowth sighed as he got in a fighting position.

"Alright, Ericka. As a new trainer, you may have the first move." Kukui said.

"Alright, um..."

 _What moves did he say Meowth had again? Um..._

"Er, Meowth, use scratch!" I commanded.

"Mrrow?" Meowth looked at me with confusion.

"Scratch?" I repeated as I looked down at meowth.

"Mrr..."

Meowth, annoyed, agreed to attack. He ran forwards to the Rockruff and scratched him with his claws.

"Ruff!" Rockruff seemed to take damage, but he hardly flintched.

"Now it's our turn, Rockruff, use tackle!"

"Ruff!" Rockruff jumped from his spot and rammed into Meowth.

"Mrow!" Meowth cried as he flew back.

"Meowth, are you okay?" I asked.

"Mrr..." Meowth got back up, appearing fine.

"Okay, use scratch again!"

"Mrrooow..." Meowth shook his head and ran towards the Rockruff.

The cat opened its mouth wide.

"Ruff? Ru-!"

I watched as Meowth bit Rockruff.

"Huh? That's not the move I said to use!" I yelled at meowth.

"Mrow!" Meowth glared back at me.

"What are you doing?" I yelled at it.

"Ruff!" Rockruff barked at the meowth.

"Mrrooow..." Meowth growled back.

"Okay...Rockruff! Use tackle again!" Professor Kukui instructed.

"Ruff!" Rockruff had no hesitation as he rammed into Meowth again.

"Meowwww!" Meowth yelled.

Meowth struggled to get up.

"Are you okay Meowth?" I asked.

"Mrow!" Meowth jumped to his feet and made a dash for the Rockruff.

"Meeeeoooow!" Meowth yelled as he jumped and bit Rockruff.

"Ruff! Rooo..." As soon as Rockruff was bit, he became unconscious.

"Rockruff!" Professor Kukui said as he ran over to Rockruff.

"Meowth!" Meowth smirked at his victory.

I walked over to Kukui.

"Is Rockruff okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's just fainted." Kukui said as he returned rockruff to his pokeball. "As for you..." He said as he turned to Meowth.

Meowth stood prideful as the smirk stayed on his face.

"Didn't I tell you that you and Ericka are partners now? Why did you disobey her?" Kukui asked.

"Mrow." Meowth didn't care. He just shrugged.

"Hmm..." I looked worriedly at Meowth.

 _Are Meowth and I really partners? I wish we could become better friends._

I knelt down to the Meowth.

"Meowth?" I asked.

Meowth looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

"We're partners, Meowth. We need to be able to communicate." I said.

"Meowth..." Meowth scoffed.

"I just want to be your friend." I said to it.

Professor Kukui walked over to me.

"Ericka, we should get these two to the pokemon center." He suggested.

"Pokemon Center?" I asked.

"Yeah. There's a building in town where they can heal our pokemon. Put Meowth in its ball and I'll take us there." Professor Kukui instructed.

"...Okay..." I said as I reached for Meowth's Pokeball.

"Meowth, return for now." I said.

Meowth returned into it's pokeball with an annoyed face.

As the pokeball closed, I looked down at it.

"Professor? Do you think there's anyway I can befriend Meowth?" I asked.

"I would say just keep trying. I don't know what else we can do..." Kukui said. "C'mon, lets get to the pokemon center."

"Alright..." I said as I followed Kukui.

* * *

Professor Kukui led me to into Hau'oli city where there was a large white building with a red roof.

"Ericka, this is the Pokemon Center. This is where you can get your pokemon healed after battle." Kukui said.

The two of us walked inside to a large room. To the left, there was a cafe area, to the right, there appeared to be a store set up. In the middle there was a red counter with a pink-haired lady wearing a light pink dress and white apron standing behind it.

"Oh, welcome Professor Kukui." The lady greeted the Professor.

"Hello, Nurse joy." He replied as the two of us approached her.

The lady then turned to me.

"Oh, is this a new trainer?" She asked.

"Yes she is. Nurse joy, this is Ericka. Ericka, this is Nurse Joy." Professor Kukui introduced us.

"Nice to meet you." I said.

"Welcome, Ericka. so, do your pokemon need healing?" She asked.

"Yes they do." Kukui said as he handed Rockruff's pokeball.

I followed and gave her Meowth's pokeball.

"Okay, I'll take your pokemon for a few seconds." She said as she took the two pokeballs over to a machine.

"..." I couldn't help but think about that battle. Why wasn't Meowth listening? Is it still mad at me?

As the professor and I waited, someone else had entered the building through the pokemon center's doors.

I looked to the entrance to see Hau standing there.

"Oh, hey, Professor! Hey Ericka! Didn't expect to see you guys here!" Hau smiled.

"Alola, Hau. You healing your pokemon?" Kukui asked.

"Yep. I'm hoping to head out to catch some pokemon before Lillie gets here." Hau replied, "So what are you guys doing here?" Hau asked.

"We're healing our Pokemon. Ericka and I just had a battle." Kukui replied.

Hau was surprised to hear about our battle.

"Wait, so does that mean you got a Pokemon, Ericka?" He asked as he turned to me.

"Yup. I got a Meowth." I replied.

"That's awesome. So...do you know how to catch pokemon then? Would you like me to show you?" He asked.

"Catch pokemon?" I asked.

"I think that's a good idea. Ericka would use the lesson." Kukui smiled.

"Great. I just want to get my pokemon healed before we get going." Hau said.

Pretty soon, Nurse Joy returned to the counter with our pokemon.

"Thank you for waiting, your pokemon are perfectly fighting fit!" Nurse Joy smiled.

"Thank you Nurse Joy!" Professor Kukui smiled as he took Rockruff's pokeball.

"Y-Yes, thank you." I said as I took Meowth's pokeball.

"Well, if you two are settled, I'm going to head back to the lab. You think you two are alright on your own?" Kukui asked.

"Sure we are!" Hau smiled as he handed Nurse Joy his pokemon for healing.

"Great. Well, I'll see you two later when Lillie arrives." Kukui smiled.

"Alright, Professor, see you then!" Hau replied.

"See you, Ericka." Kukui said as he left.

"Later, Professor Kukui." I waved as the professor walked out the door.

"Thank you for waiting, Hau. Your pokemon are back to perfect health." Nurse Joy smiled as she handed Hau his pokemon.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Hau smiled.

Hau put his pokeballs away and then turned to me.

"Lets get to route one, that's the best place for beginning trainers to find pokemon to catch." Hau suggested.

"Alright." I replied.

"Let's go!" Hau smiled as he lead the way.

* * *

Hau and I made our way to route one. There was a lot of tall grass on the road.

"Now Ericka, the best place you're gonna find pokemon is here in the tall grass." Hau said as he started to walk into the grass.

 _Tall grass? That reminds me, I walked into some tall grass when I ran into Meowth. Was that why he attacked?_

"Hopefully if I'm just walking...I'll...woah!"

Hau nearly jumped as a wild pokemon jumped from the grass and attacked him. The pokemon appeared to be a little ladybug-looking creature.

"Aha! A Ledyba." Hau said.

"Go Smeargle!" Hau said as he called out a black and white dog-like pokemon with a paintbrush tail.

"Use False Swipe!" Hau commanded.

"Smear!" The smeargle ran towards the Ledyba and swiped at it.

"Ledy!" The Ledyba yelled as it was hit.

"Ledy!" Ledyba then charged forward and tackled the smeargle.

"Go pokeball!" Hau yelled as he threw a pokeball at the Ledyba.

As the Ledyba was hit by the ball, the ball absorbed it and closed with the ledyba inside. the pokeball rocked a few times, before capturing the Ledyba.

"I caught it!" Hau jumped in excitement before running to pick up his new pokemon.

"And Ericka, that's how it's done. You weaken a pokemon and then throw a pokeball when it's weakened enough. Then you just leave it all up to chance, and hope that you catch it." Hau explained.

"Got it, weaken it, throw pokeball, then hopeful capture." I repeated.

"Here, since you're a new trainer, let me get you started with some empty pokeballs of your own." Hau said as he reached into his bag and got out ten smaller pokeballs.

"W-Wow, thank you." I said.

"Just as an fyi, those can grow bigger if you hit the button." Hau explained.

"Okay..."

I put nine of the pokeballs in my pockets, while the the other one I pressed the button to make it grow to baseball-size.

"Neato. I've never seen technology like this where I come from." I said.

"Now go ahead, step into the grass and catch a wild pokemon!" Hau said excitedly.

"Alright, alright." I said as I stepped into the grass, putting the empty pokeball away.

"Hmm...Gah!" I yelled as a wild pokemon attacked.

I nearly fell as a small little green caterpillar with red antennae jumped at me.

"That's a caterpie! Quick! Throw Meowth's pokeball so it can attack!" Hau yelled.

"Er-Er...Hrgh, gah!" I struggled to get a grip on Meowth's pokeball, but I was able to get it and throw it.

The pokeball opened to release the Meowth inside.

"Mrow..." Meowth growled.

"Meowth, this is the pokemon we're trying to catch, so can you help me out here?" I asked to it.

"...Mrow..." Meothw gave me a look, as if it were telling me, "Fine..."

"Great. Now, use scratch!" I yelled.

"Mrow!" Meowth ran forward and used its long sharp claws to attack the caterpillar.

"Cater!" The pokemon cried as it was attacked.

"Wrew...Pie!" The Caterpie yelled as it shot strings from its mouth to slow meowth down.

"Okay...Go Pokeball!" I yelled as I threw the pokeball.

The caterpie was hit with the pokeball and was absorbed by it. The pokeball rocked once, rocked twice, rocked once more, when suddenly...

*Click!*

The pokeball dings as the pokemon was captured.

"I...I caught it!" I smiled as I ran to pick up the pokeball.

"Mr...Mrow!" As I picked up the pokeball, I turned to see Meowth who was tied up with the strings.

"Here, Meowth." I said as I walked over, bent down, and was able to loosen the strings and free Meowth.

"Meow...?" Meowth looked almost confused as he was freed.

I smiled back at him as he looked up at me.

"Thank you for helping me, by the way. Now we have a new friend." I smiled at him.

"Mrow..." Meowth kept his confused look as he looked up at me.

Hau then walked up to me.

"Awesome, I'm glad you were able to catch that Caterpie." Hau smiled.

"Me too. I wasn't sure if I was gonna be able to get it or not." I replied.

"Heheh. Hey, we should probably heal our pokemon before we meet Lillie at the dock." Hau suggested.

"So when is Lillie coming?" I asked.

"Some time around noon. We definitely don't want to be late." Hau said.

"Alright. C'mon, Meowth, lets get back to the Pokemon Center." I said.

"Mrow..." Meowth replied as he started to follow.

* * *

After Hau and I healed our pokemon, we both started to make our way through Hau'oli city.

The two of us and Meowth walked out of the Pokemon Center, and started heading to the docks.

As we were walking, I noticed a huge school next to the Pokemon Center.

"Ericka, do you know that building? That's the Trainer School where many people go to learn about the basics of pokemon." Hau said as we were walking along.

"Do you have to apply there?" I asked.

"No...I think you just walk in and they'll be glad to teach you." Hau replied.

"Gotcha." I said.

We continued down the road, when I noticed some shops lined up in the street.

"Hau, what kinds of shops are those over there?" I asked as I pointed to the line of buildings.

"Those shops there are popular places for pokemon trainers. That one there sells clothes, while the one next to it gives you haircuts." Hau explained as he pointed out the buildings.

"Cool. I may stop there at some point." I replied.

I looked down at my Meowth, who had his arms folded behind his head as he was walking.

 _This pokemon seems to change its mood a lot...first battle we had he wasn't obeying, but when we were catching  
Caterpie, he seemed to listen. Are we growing closer? _

Meowth glanced up at me. As soon as we made eye contact, he quickly turned his head away.

"Hmm..." I frowned slightly.

"Hau! Ericka! There you two are!"

We looked up the road to see Professor Kukui waving at us with Rockruff standing beside him, wagging his tail in excitement. The two were standing in front of the Pokemon Center at the end of the street.

"Alola, Professor!" Hau waved.

"Hey, Professor Kukui." I greeted.

"Ruff!"

As we approached the two, Rockruff excitedly ran up to Meowth while wagging his tail.

"Mrow?" Meowth hesitated at the welcome.

"So, how did the pokemon catching go?" Professor Kukui asked.

"It went really well! Ericka caught a Caterpie!" Hau said excitedly.

"Really? May I see?" He asked.

"Sure."

I reached into my left pocket where Caterpie's pokeball was and pulled it out.

"Come on out, Caterpie." I said as I threw the pokeball in the air.

As the pokeball flew into the air, it opened up and released Caterpie from the capsule.

"Wroo!" Caterpie cried as it touched the ground.

"I'll say, that's a fine caterpie you have there." Kukui smiled.

"Wroo!" Caterpie smiled when it heard the compliment.

"Hey Professor, where's Professor Burnet?" Hau asked.

"She's waiting for us at the docks I believe. We'd better hurry to the Marina." Kukui said.

"Yeah, let's get going!" Hau said.

"Ruff!" Rockruff barked in excitement.

"C'mon you two."

I bent down to scoop up Caterpie in my arms, while I looked back at Meowth who was still following. As soon as we were ready, we headed for the Marina.

* * *

We had to continue through some of the city, but we finally made it to the Marina where we were supposed to greet their friend Lillie.

"There you all are!"

We looked down the Marina to see Professor Burnet waiting for us.

"Where have you all been? Lillie is to arrive any time now!" Professor Burnet said.

"Is it really that soon? Man I'm excited!" Hau cheered.

"Ruff!" Rockruff jumped around Hau as he joined in the excitement.

"Sorry we took a bit of time, Hon. But at least we're here to greet her now, right?" Kukui said.

"Yes, but any later and who knows if you would have been on time." Burnet added.

As Professor Burnet looked around, she saw me standing next to Professor Kukui with Caterpie in my arms.

"Aw! What a cute little Caterpie!" Professor Burnet smiled.

"Wrroo!" Caterpie smiled yet again at the compliment.

"Yeah, Hau took me to route 1 to catch a pokemon, and I got this little guy."

"Wroo?!" Caterpie looked at me in confusion.

"Mrow! Meoowth!" I turned to meowth who seemed to be laughing.

"Did I say something funny?" I asked.

"Hmm...Maybe. Kukui, can I borrow your pokedex?" Professor Burnet asked her husband.

"Sure thing." He said as he handed her a red device that looked like an oddly shaped ipad.

Professor Burnet used the device and seemed to scan my caterpie.

"I see...This Caterpie appears to be female." She said as she looked at the device.

"It's a girl?" I repeated.

I looked down at the Caterpie, who appeared to be blushing a bit.

"Sorry Caterpie..." I apologized.

"Wroo!" Caterpie accepted the apology with a smile, seeming to forget the comment I made earlier.

"Mrow, row!" Meowth was still chuckling a bit from the comment.

"It seems that this meowth has a sense of humor after all." Professor Burnet chuckled.

"Mrow? Mr!" Meowth seemed to be a bit embarrassed by that comment, turning away and folding his arms.

 _ ***HONK HONK**_ _ *****_

"Hey! Is that it?!" Hau asked as he ran to the end of the Marina in excitement.

In the distance, there was a large white ship approaching the harbor.

"I think it is!" Professor Kukui said as he joined Hau at the end of the dock.

"Ruff ruff!" Rockruff quickly ran to join Hau and Professor Kukui near the edge. "Ru...RUFF!" Rockruff was just as excited as them, but as he was running fast, he almost lost footing and nearly fell into the water below which seemed to give him a scare.

"Rockruff! Be careful!" Professor Burnet warned Rockruff as she and I began to approach the edge with the others.

I walked up excitedly next to the others. I don't know what made me so excited, since I didn't know this person, but it's just this feeling I get. Maybe I'm excited to meet Lillie? Whatever the reason, the moment was soon approaching when I would get to meet this girl.

"Professor Kukui! Professor Burnet! Hau!"

I looked up at the fast approaching ship. There was a girl at the front of the boat waving down to us. The girl was had blode hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing a white blouse with a white skirt, with a pink backpack hainging down from the straps around her arms.

"Lillie!" All three of them said as they saw their friend.

 _ ***HONK HONK***_

"Gah!" Lillie gasped at the loud horn from the boat, holding her hands to her ears.

After recovering quickly from the blast, she turned her attention towards us again.

"ALOLA!" She shouted loudly.

* * *

The ship docked at the Marina. Everyone was excited to see their friend and hear all the stories she had to tell. There were many people getting off the ship, so we had to wait until Lillie finally walked onto the dock.

"There she is!" Hau said as he spotted her from the crowd.

"Alola!" Lillie waved as she approached us.

"Alola, Lillie!" Professor Kukui smiled at their friend.

"Lillie!" Professor Burnet walked up to the girl.

"Professor Burnet!" Lillie smiled as the two hugged each other in greeting.

"It's so good to see you all again!" Lillie said as she pulled away.

"Same here!" Hau smiled.

"So how's your mother doing?" Professor Kukui asked.

"She's good. We had to stop at the Aether Paradise before I boarded a ship to come here, so she's resting at home." Lillie replied.

Lillie looked among the group when her eyes stopped at me.

"Uh, hi there." She smiled at me.

"Hi." I replied.

"Oh, forgive me. Lillie, this is Ericka. She's staying at our house due to some...interesting circumstances. Ericka, this is Lillie." Professor Kukui introduced.

"It's nice to meet you, Ericka." Lillie smiled as she walked up to me.

"Same here, Lillie. I heard so much about you." I replied.

Lillie looked down at the Caterpie in my arms.

"Aw, what an adorable little Caterpie. I've seen a lot of them in Kanto." Lillie said.

"Thanks. I just caught this Caterpie, thanks to my partner Meowth." I said as I looked down at Meowth who was standing next to me.

"Lillie, so tell us! Did you get a pokemon of your own?" Hau asked.

"I'd be happy to show you. Just, let's get somewhere where there's more room." Lillie said as she turned to her friends.

* * *

Everyone of us left the Marina and we decided to head to the beach in front of Professor Kukui's house. As soon as we got there, Lillie ran to touch the sands of the beach.

"Ah! It's been so long, this place feels like home!" Lillie smiled excitedly as she looked out at the sparkling waters.

"Lillie, don't keep us waiting! Let's see the pokemon you caught!" Hau said.

"Alright, alright." Lillie smirked as she turned around.

"C'mon out everyone!"

Lillie said as she threw five pokeballs in the air.

The first of all of them to be released was a small blue turtle with an orange shell.

"Squirtle!" The pokemon cheered.

The second pokeball to open revealed a Giant orange rat-like pokemon with a long black tail that had a yellow lightning bolt shape at the end of its tail.

"Raichu!" The pokemon cried.

The third pokemon was a tall blue bipedal creature that had tan markings in parts of its body. It had a short blue horn and spikes on its back.

"Nidoqueen!" The pokemon smiled.

The fourth pokemon was a brown bird with a long red crest coming down from its head. It had a red beak, tan belly, and tan on some of its feathers.

"Pidgeotto!":

The fifth pokemon was a little brown dog-cat-fox thing that was covered in fur, with a cream color fur surrounding its nect and the tip of its tail.

"Eevee!" The eevee cried.

"Awesome!" Hau said excitedly as he ran to check out all of the pokemon.

"Squirtle!" I watched as the turtle ran over to Lillie and adoringly jumped onto her back and hung from her shoulder.

"Haha!" Lillie chuckled at her partner.

"So Lillie, you chose a squirtle then?" Kukui asked.

"Yep. After visiting Bill, I met up with Professor Oak and I was able to chose my starter. Squirtle and I seemed to get along pretty well, so I chose him." Lillie said before turned to her partner and smiling.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle cheered as he raised a fist in the air with his three fingered hand.

Hau turned to Lillie excitedly.

"Sooo, did you get to challenge any gyms?" Hau asked.

"Oh!" Lilie took of her pink backpack and reached to get something from inside it. She pylled out a light blue case and opened it up. Inside there were eight slots, with only five pins inside.

"I managed to collect five of them before we had to leave." Lillie said.

"That's awesome, Lillie!" Professor Kukui smiled.

"Thanks! But since I wasn't able to make it to the Kanto Pokemon League, I was hoping that maybe I could take the island challenge." Lillie said.

"Really? You're going to take the island challenge?!" Hau asked in surprise.

"Yep!" Lillie smiled in reply.

"You know, you should enter the Iki town festival. That way you can start your journey and get a z-ring, and for our benefit we'll get to see how you've grown as a trainer." Professor Kukui suggested.

"The Iki town festival? That's a good idea actually." Lillie smiled at the idea.

"Ericka, you should enter the festival!" Hau said as he turned to me.

"Me? Enter the festival?" I asked.

"Yeah! You've got some cool partners. I bet you'd be able to pass for sure!" Hau said excitedly.

I looked down at the Caterpie in my arms and the Meowth who was standing to my right, looking up at me.

"I suppose that'd have to be a team desicion." I said.

"Hey, since we're all here, how about we go inside for some cocoa and chat for a bit?" Professor Kukui asked.

"I'd love that, thanks, Professor." Lillie smiled.

Lillie then turned to the other four of her pokemon, minus the squirtle on her shoulder.

"Return everyone!" Lillie said as she returned the pokemon.

"Actually, I have to be getting back to my gramps. I promised him I would help him get ready." Hau said.

"Alright Hau. Hey, say hi to him for me, would you?" Kukui asked.

"Sure thing. I'll also let him know that you've arrived, Lillie." Hau said to Lillie.

"Great! I can't wait to see him again!" Lillie smiled.

"Later all!" Hau said as he took off towards Iki town.

All of us watched Hau leave before we turned to go inside Kukui's house. As soon as he got to route 1, we all walked up to the house. The professor opened the door with his key and let us inside.

"Ruff!" Rockruff barked as he ran inside.

All of us followed the dog and professor inside.

"Ah!" Lillie gasped with excitement as she found herself in familiar surroundings. "It's just like I remember!" Lillie said as she looked around.

I walked over to the table and placed Caterpie down.

"Oh! I have to recall this view!" Lillie said as she headed for the ladder.

"Wait!" I yelled as I followed her.

I didn't get to finish my sentence before she got a peek at the loft. Whatever was familiar to him was way different than it is now.

"Huh?" Lillie looked around at the somewhat untidy room I left it. What she saw was a plastic bag with some old clothes in it, a had on the table, and a messy bed.

"Sorry, I'd been staying up here for a few days." I said to her as we both got to the top.

"Ah, I see." She said as she looked around.

"Sorry the place is a bit of a mess..." I said as I walked over to the table to get my hat.

"That's fine. I acutally used to stay here when I was the professor's assistant." Lillie added.

"Cool."

I walked over to grab my hat off the table. I pulled it away to place on my head, but unfortunately, I had forgotten one thing. There was a certain stone that was launched out of the hat towards the ground.

"Gah! No!" I yelled as I watched the white stone fly bounce off the floor and fly off the loft.

"What is that?!" Professor Burnet asked as she watched the stone.

"I got it!" Professor Kukui said as he tried to get in place to catch the stone.

"Mrow!" Meowth's curiosity got to him as he ran and jumped onto the professor. As soon as he climbed to the professor's head, he jumped and grabbed the stone out of the air.

"Meowth! Thank goodness..." I sighed of relief.

"Mrow..." Meowth had said nothing, not even looking up from the stone. His eyes fixated on it in awe almost.

I climbed down the loft, with Lillie following behind.

"Thanks for catching that, Meowth." I said to him.

"...Mrow." Meowth still had a look of awe on his face as he stood up and handed the stone to me.

I looked at his eyes as I took the bracelet. He seemed to have dropped the annoyed expression that he had before.

"Ericka, what is that stone that flew down here?" Professor Kukui asked.

"This stone?" I asked as I held it out.

Professor Kukui walked over to get a better look.

"May I see this?" He asked.

"Uh...Sure." I replied as I handed it to him.

The professor took the white stone bracelet from my hands.

"Wroo?" Caterpie, who had moved from the to where Meowth and I were standing.

"Ericka...is this...A Z-Ring?!" He asked in disbelief.

"A z-ring?!" Lillie repeated in awe.

"I don't know...I found it." I said.

"Where did you find it?" He asked.

"Well, Hau and I went to visit the ruins of conflict yesterday, so when I wlaked up to the shrine, I had visions of a yellow and black pokemon with an orange crest. Shortly after I felt this stone placed into my hands." I explained.

"You saw Tapu Koko?!" Lillie asked in disbelief.

"Was that him?" I asked.

The professor looked at the stone in awe and disbelief.

"I don't know why...but I think the island guardian gave this to you for a reason, Ericka." Professor Kukui said as he looked up from the stone at me.

"So is that what a z-ring is?" I asked.

"Yes. Normally they are given to you when you take the island challenge. But in this case, it seems that Tapu Koko has a reason for giving this to you." Professor Kukui explained before placing it in my hand.

"Take good care of it." He said.

I looked down at the stone.

"I will!" I said.

I took a glance down at Meowth. He no longer had a trace of that annoyed look. He seemed to be in shock after hearing about the z-ring.

"So you know what this means, right?" Lillie asked.

I looked up from meowht to turn to her.

"What?" I asked.

"It means that you'll have to be entering the tournament too before starting your island challenge!" Lillie smirked at the idea of battling.

"Entering the tournament, huh?" I asked.

I looked back down at Meowth, with a certain Caterpie inching closer.

"I think we're up to that challenge, right guys?" I asked them.

"Wroo!" Caterpie cheered excitedly at the thought.

Meowth still had an uncertain look on his face. He looked down as he pondered his thoughts, before collecting himself. He closed his eyes and nodded his head down further, before looking up at me with a small smirk.

"Mrow!" Meowth's expression now seemed to say: "Alright, I'm in."

"...Haha!" I chuckled as I looked into Meowth's eyes. He seemed to be getting used to the idea of us being partners.

"Then it's settled! I'll be sure to tell ol' Hala that you'll be entering the festival." Professor Kukui smiled.

"I guess that means we're both going to be battling each other!" Lillie said.

I held my fist with determination.

"Yeah, let's both do our best!" I said.

"Mrow!"

"Wroo!"

Both my pokemon cheered in excitement.

Whatever I was getting myself into, I'm actually enjoying the journey ahead. I just hope that with all that's going on, I'll be able to grow closer with my Pokemon. The weekend is the festival. Tomorrow, who knows what tomorrow has in store!

* * *

 **Whew! Man that was a fun chapter to write! Seems like the more I want to include in a chapter, the longer it gets. Dunno if you guys like that or not, maybe give me some feedback if you have a preference.**

 **Some of you might be wondering, why did I chose the pokemon I did for Lillie's team? Well out of all three Kanto starters, I figured that Lillie was most likely going to choose Squirtle. As for the rest, she had caught a Pikachu in Viridian Forest and eventually evolved into Raichu. I thought it would have been interesting for her to have a "Kantonian" pokemon. As for the rest I just chose pokemon that seemed to fit her personality.**

 **So, it seems Meowth has some conflicts going on. With first having a distrust in humans, how will his partnership with Ericka work out? How will things be now that Ericka is going to be taking the island challenge? And how will things be now that Lillie is back in Alola? All questions to be answered as the story continues!**

 **Qotc: What was your favorite character in Pokemon Sun/Moon? You can even answer in categories like "Main characters" (main player, the Professor, Hau, Lillie, etc), "Trial Captains", etc.**

 **See you all next chapter!**


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